Bowling Green has not changed much in the four years since I have been here. The students have always liked to party, the weather has always made me wish I lived in Florida and the shuttle has never run on schedule.

Students have not always been best friends with Bowling Green residents either. That has escalated this year with the nuisance party and zoning ordinances being enforced.

The student-resident relationship has been hampered by the fact that both sides think they are right, and they do not completely understand one another.

The arguments residents of Bowling Green give are better than students give them credit for. They are not all out-of-touch “townies,” nor do they all have an impeccable dislike for us students.

I’ll bet it really is hard for them living in a college town. For one thing, 57 percent of the property here is rental property. Any resident who owns land next to a rental unit automatically sees their property value decrease.

And imagine how awkward it is for residents with kids. This town is perfectly conducive to my 22-year-old partying needs, but I would not feel the same if I was 12.

Residents don’t like our rowdy parties or the intoxicated students galloping home from the bars every weekend. Although I am guilty of this myself, I see their argument. Imagine if you are a working adult just wanting to sleep on the weekends, or you have young kids in need of slumber.

Not to mention that when we party, we really can do a number on the land. It is not uncommon to see beer cans thrown around Bowling Green yards. Residents do not want their environment to disintegrate.

I’ve heard some students say that whether the residents like putting up with us, they can move if they don’t like it. I’ll bet a good portion of Bowling Green residents moved here, and remain here because of a job. Not to mention that some might live here because this is what they can afford.

And many residents have kids attending school here. Anyone who has ever moved to a different school knows that putting kids in a new district is not the easiest thing.

Now allow me to explain why students have some good arguments. The biggest issue is that we are college students and many of us like to party, being that we are young adults in possibly one of the greatest journeys of our lives. We are recently removed from our childhood, and before we venture into the world of work and families, we want to have fun. I would not doubt that some Bowling Green residents partied a lot in college, and hopefully those of you reading this understand.

Students are not usually happy when we get in trouble with the police. I’ve heard stories from friends whose neighbors they’ve never even met reported loud parties at their place.

Students have a key responsibility of keeping the noise down when we host a party, but getting us busted on the first instance some times seems unfair. Maybe instead of calling the police the first time we have a loud party, residents can talk with their neighbors the next day, to explain why they were bothered by the party and kindly ask students to keep it quieter next time.

We are upset with the zoning ordinance for many reasons. Among several of our arguments, some students believe it is impeding on their right to live where they want with friends. Others are confused about how more than three students living in one place can mean more parties there. Students who party are going to do so no matter how many friends they live with.

Houses, like those in Bentwood, cost over $1,000 monthly and have four bedrooms. It really does not make sense to only allow three people in a four-bedroom house, and many students can not afford such high rent.

So neither Bowling Green students nor residents are as bad as we can make each other out to be. As a student, I know this is true of the residents because most of the ones I’ve met are genuinely nice, compassionate people.

Until residents and students understand the other side, nothing is likely to get resolved. We students can do our part by getting our concerns on the table.

Mayor Quinn has urged students to run for city council, and I can not thank him more for that. Two students and a faculty member are running for first ward city council, and I have the utmost faith in them to be strong liaisons of resident and student views.

Send comments to Nicole at [email protected].